In my never ending quest to get my gang off of Fancy Feast, I went to the pet specialty shop near my office. It's called the Dog Bar and they sell only the high quality foods for dogs and cats, in dry and canned. I noticed they had some freezers in the back and realized they now carry pre-packaged raw food. The girl gave me a few medallions as a sample. I'm going to give them some later this evening, but in little pieces, like a treat and see how receptive they are to it. Not long ago I'd gotten them some freeze dried meat treats you soak in water to soften up, and they really liked them.

Having the pre-packaged raw would make me less hesitant about feeding them raw. It's already mixed with the meats, and bones and things they need so there would be no guessing on my part and wondering if I'm doing it right.

I think this might be the way to go. It's the only place in town I know of that sells the pre-packaged raw food just for cats. I know there are places I can get it online, but I don't feel comfortable ordering something like that online and having it shipped to me. This I can just buy on my way home and put it in the refrigerator.

They carry two brands. One is Natures Variety and the other I can't seem to remember. The Natures variety the sales girl said can be given to both cats and dogs, but the other kind was made especially for cats, and that's the kind she gives her kittens. Those were the samples she gave me.

Kiska is having stomach issues so I'm hoping this doesn't make it worse for her. She and Maks seem to be the ones who have always had stomach issues of some sort.

Do any of you use these pre-packaged foods?

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There are only two rules at my house: House rule #1. Cats rule. House rule #2. See rule #1.

I feed my guy pre-packaged raw. You do have to be careful because not all products are balanced, many still contain way to many vegetables and/or grains for cats, and you have to make sure there's a calcium source (preferably bone). That said, the Nature's Variety medallions are a really good product and that's what I often feed Aztec. Took him a long time to accept it though, so be prepared that not all cats like it right away. Keep trying, hide tiny slivers in their canned food and slowly increase the amount if they don't take to it at first.

The girl gave me a coupon for a free 3 pound package, which I just printed out after nearly killing my computer for freezing! I thought I'd lost the promotion code because of that but thankfully it allowed me to print it.

I wish I could remember the name of the other kind. She said that was what she fed her cats and it was also good. I'll use the medallions she gave me to see how they like it. I can start small. The good thing is at least they don't eat only dry, they do like canned, so maybe that's half the battle won right there.

I'm excited that they sell this at the shop. I know they have it on the online site, but I'd never seen it at the store so I'm glad I decided to stop in today. More and more I'm just so afraid of what will happen next with the pet food industry. At least with the pre packaged raw I'd like to think the standards have to be more strict since you're talking about raw food.

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There are only two rules at my house: House rule #1. Cats rule. House rule #2. See rule #1.

Duffy's eating pre-packaged raw from a local BC company called Natural Instincts recommended by my holistic vet. She loves it

Have a look @ the ingredients to make sure there is bone for calcium, should have organs (heart/liver/kidneys) and not too much veggies ~ for cats should be 5% or less If you can get them to eat a variety of meats - even better. Chicken, Turkey will have bone in, Rabbit may or may not (will show on the label), Beef & Lamb won't have bone in it. You should have @ least 1 red meat for added iron, though they will get some in the organs.

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Avoid biting when a simple growl will do

The Spirit Lives As Long As Someone Who Lives Remembers You - Navaho Saying

Vindication ~ For all those pets who became sick or lost their lives from tainted pet food

My foster kittens were eating pre packaged raw from a local company, Sweet Pea was supplemented with Raw while nursing. The feline line did not have any grains or veggies in it, just bone, meat, liver, and I think eggs, etc. They absolutley loved the raw (more so than cat food) and they had the best muscle mass I have ever seen on kittens, especially the boys (two were orphan kittens so I know it was not genetics).

I'll have a close look at the package when I get home. There were two kinds this place sold, and the girl from the store told me one was more geared to cats than the other. I'll have to try and get the name of that other one to see if I can find some info on the internet about it.

Thanks for the input guys!

One more question. Yesterday I took two medallions and put them in a plastic container in the fridge to have them thaw out. This morning when I broke it in pieces and mixed some of their canned with it, I noticed it was quite cold, and my guys hate cold food. Is there anything I can do to warm it up other than putting in the microwave which I'm thinking is a no-no.

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There are only two rules at my house: House rule #1. Cats rule. House rule #2. See rule #1.

All 3 of my cats eat the Nature's Variety medallions. They are a huge hit here. It took a few weeks when we originally started to get them to believe it was food, but once they did, they loved it. They prefer it to all other foods now. I've tried other pre-made raw, but all my guys still go after the NV medallions. Although they do like chicken necks and plain raw too.

Since switching all the cats look fantastic, they all shiny and muscular. My one cat who has problems maintaining the correct urine PH (and therefore chronically developed struvite crystals), has done amazing with raw. We've had no problems at all since switching.

They turned their noses up to it yesterday, and this morning, until I realized it just might be too cold for their liking.

You might also need to start smaller, maybe dressing it up with something uber-tasty so that they get over their suspicions of a new food. Raw also tends not to smell very much, and since cat's tastes are largely determined by smell, it could be that you just need to make it smell like something else for a while. You could try mixing a teensy bit with some plain chicken baby food and see how that goes over. If they go for it, then next time give less baby food, more raw, until they accept that raw is actually food worth eating. It can be a slow process with cats, but it's well worth the effort. Good luck!

I'll give the baby food idea a try. Thanks. Yeah, they kept trying to sniff it and walked away, but I had been putting some of their FF on it so they'll at least come near the dish. But I'll head to the natural food market this weekend and get some baby food and try it with that.

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There are only two rules at my house: House rule #1. Cats rule. House rule #2. See rule #1.

All 3 of my cats eat the Nature's Variety medallions. They are a huge hit here. It took a few weeks when we originally started to get them to believe it was food, but once they did, they loved it. They prefer it to all other foods now. I've tried other pre-made raw, but all my guys still go after the NV medallions. Although they do like chicken necks and plain raw too.

Since switching all the cats look fantastic, they all shiny and muscular. My one cat who has problems maintaining the correct urine PH (and therefore chronically developed struvite crystals), has done amazing with raw. We've had no problems at all since switching.

I'm hoping this will help Vlad a bit with his weight. He's a big cat, but he's not super active. He doesn't look fat, but I am hoping eating raw will keep his weight at a good level and maybe make him want to run around more.

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There are only two rules at my house: House rule #1. Cats rule. House rule #2. See rule #1.